My daughter took the SAT today after extensive test prep. Typically Sections 8 and 9 are 20 minutes each. Some of the students in the room had a 25 minute time limit for section 8 and 20 min for section 9. Others had the opposite (Section 8 for 20 min and Section 9 for 25 min). Again, this was not a proctor issue, this was in the test booklets. How widespread was this? She’s seen people tweeting about it, so it wasn’t just her location. How does the college board typically respond when they have made the mistake?
Same mistake was in my test booklet; however, I don’t believe the proctor’s instructions had the mistake. My location caught the error and corrected it, so no extra time was given. I’m worried about what will happen though, especially because I feel I did well…
That’s my concern-- locations could have 1) defaulted to 20, 2) defaulted to 25, or 3) followed the directions for each.
My friend took the SAT today, and she said that that happened with her too. I wonder if it happened everywhere today.
I think it happened everywhere. My proctor realized it was a mistake and made us do only 20 minutes. I’m hearing a lot of proctors let the students do 25 minutes though.
The proctor’s instruction booklet did not have the mistake in it. Only the test booklets had the misprint.
I’m on the east coast, and I know of several people (different centers) who reported the same issue. It’s a pretty big mistake, in my opinion. Wouldn’t it be nice if the college board gave everyone a perfect score on those two sections since it was THEIR mistake?? Anyone know if there’s any historical precedent-- what they do when they have screwed up?
My hope is that nothing happens. I mean, if the proctor’s instructions said 20 minutes, shouldn’t it be fine? I understand how test takers could get confused, but CB forcing a retake for their mistake would make many unhappy
Here’s the other concern. I think it’s possible that they used the 25 minute sections as equating sections at the end-- so they were actually 25 minute sections and not 20 minute sections Our center gave 25 minutes, but didn’t say it until the five minute warning (at which time they said ten minutes). This led to people rushing through sections that were long for twenty minutes, and then trying to go back and fix, as opposed to having 25 at the outset and working diligently from the start. I don’t think they should force a retake-- it was their error.
It happened in my testing center also! We ALL got an extra 5 minutes for section 8 ONLY. Despite some people having the extra 5 minutes for section 9…
No idea what CollegeBoard is going to do!
DS took the test. He went in cold (rising Junior) so he didn’t even know if a section was longer or not. However his group was one of the first that got let out of the building…assuming they all started at the same time I guess maybe he didn’t get the extra 5 minutes. I don’t think there is any possibility they would wholesale cancel the test. Too many kids would be affected. I bet they just wait and see if the score averages are the same as other times and if so just leave it alone.
I think it’s a bigger problem, because I think it was a 25 minute section that some people only got 20 minutes for-- as opposed to just an error in the time listed in the booklet.
Sections 8 or 9 were the sections with the mistake. These sections are normally 20 minutes, so the proctor giving the usual twenty minutes in both of these sections would limit time like giving 20 minutes for a usual 25 minute section would. I think the problem is some proctors apparently abided by the misprint in the test booklets rather than their instructions.
My daughter had the verbal for section 8 listed as 25 minutes. She felt like it was, in fact, a 25 minute section and not a 20 minute section that was marked as 25 minutes. She had math for section 9, which said 20 minutes, and it felt like a 20 minute section. If she’s correct, then the people who were only given 20 minutes were forced to complete too many questions in a short time period. Either way, some people got five more minutes than other people did, and that’s 25% more time. And some people knew they were being given those five extra minutes, and others didn’t (like my daughter). It’s a problem beyond whether the proctors abided by the misprint.
@Squirg it was definitely a 20 minute section for section 8. I’ve taken too many practice tests and it’s the exact format for a 20 minute section.
On your version— but there’s more than one version of the test.
Sections 8 and 9 are always 20 minute sections.
That’s not going to happen because it would give an even more incorrect measure of test-takers ability. The College Board knows how performance varies when extra time is given and it isn’t anywhere near “perfect” scores. The increase is very small, even when time is extended to as much as 40 minutes. Giving students more time to get questions right also gives them more time to get them wrong.
@JustOneDad Any prediction on what will happen?
Not a clue.
I don’t think it would be as big of an issue if the same thing happened to everyone, or if every center dealt with the issue the same way. Some kids had more time than others, and it was the College Board’s fault.